Mama Mandolas Spicy Sicilian Chicken Soup Food

CARRABBA'S MAMA MANDOLA'S CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Dice celery, carrots, onion, potatoes and bell pepper into 1/4-inch pieces. Chop tomatoes; reserve all juice.
• Place vegetables, tomatoes with their juice, chicken pieces, parsley and garlic in a 10-quart stockpot. Add water. Season with salt and pepper.
• Slowly bring soup to a boil over low heat. Skim off foam that rises to the surface; may have to skim 2 or 3 times.
• Partially cover pot and simmer 2 hours. When soup is finished, remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon.
• Let cool.Meanwhile, mash vegetables in the bottom of the pot with the back side of a large cooking spoon or a potato masher.
• When chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove skin and bones and return meat to soup.
• Notes: Soup is best served the day after it is made. Refrigerate and remove fat that solidifies on the surface of the soup.
• Serve soup with rice or small, stubby pasta such as pastina, tubetti or small elbow macaroni. For better flavor, cook the rice or pasta in the soup when reheating. Add freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, if desired.

CARRABBA'S SPICY SICILIAN CHICKEN SOUP (AKA: MAMA MANDOLA'S CHICKEN SOUP)

Steps:

• Heat a large pot over medium heat and add in the olive oil, celery, carrots, onion, bell pepper. Sauté for about 10 minutes until the vegetables just start to soften.
• Add in the: chicken breast (I like to cut mine in half to make shredding easier), garlic, potatoes, can of tomatoes, parsley, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, water, and chicken broth. Bring this to a full boil for about a minute then lower to a low simmer for 45 minutes - covered.
• After the 45 minutes, pull out the cooked chicken and shred. You can just pull it apart using 2 forks. Add the chicken back to the pot along with your pasta and bring to a full boil again. Cook for the amount of time needed for your pasta. (Ditalini is typically about 10 minutes)
• We like to serve our soup with a little extra parsley on top and a few pieces of bread for dipping.
• We love to make this super easy focaccia bread to go with this soup!

MAMA MANDOLA'S SPICY SICILIAN CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Dice celery, carrots, onion, potatoes and bell pepper into 1/4-inch pieces.
• Chop tomatoes; reserve all juice.
• Place vegetables, tomatoes with their juice, chicken pieces, parsley and garlic in a 10-quart stockpot.
• Add water. Season with salt and pepper.
• Slowly bring soup to a boil over low heat.
• Skim off foam that rises to the surface; may have to skim 2 or 3 times.
• Partially cover pot and simmer 2 hours.
• When soup is finished, remove chicken pieces with a slotted spoon. Let cool.
• Meanwhile, mash vegetables in the bottom of the pot with the back side of a large cooking spoon or a potato masher.
• When chicken has cooled enough to handle, remove skin and bones and return meat to soup.
• Notes: Soup is best served the day after it is made. Refrigerate and remove fat that solidifies on the surface of the soup. Serve soup with rice or small, stubby pasta. For better flavor, cook the rice or pasta in the soup when reheating. Add freshly grated Parmesan or Romano cheese, if desired.

SICILIAN CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• Saute onion, potatoes, carrots, bell pepper, and celery in a large soup pot.
• Add stock, garlic, tomatoes, bouillon cubes, bay leaves, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.
• Simmer 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Remove bay leaves.
• Divide soup in half, leave half in the soup pot and puree the other half in a food processor.
• Add the pureed soup back to the soup pot and stir. Add shredded chicken and parsley.
• Simmer 30 minutes.
• While the soup is simmering, boil a pot of water and cook the macaroni according to the directions on the bag. Drain and toss with olive oil until lightly coated.
• Ladle soup into individual bowls and add macaroni to taste. Add parmesan cheese to taste and enjoy! (number of servings is approximate).

MAMA MANDOLA'S SICILIAN CHICKEN SOUP RECIPE - (4.1/5)

Steps:

• Put the whole chicken, onion, celery, carrots, bell peppers, potatoes, tomatoes and their juices in a large soup pot and add enough cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over high heat, skimming off the foam that rises to the surface. Add the parsley, garlic, and 1 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Partially cover the pot and simmer until the chicken is falling off the bones, about 2 hours. Using tongs, transfer the chicken to a large bowl and let cool for about 20 minutes. Keep the soup in the pot simmering. Remove the meat from the chicken, discarding the skin and bones, taking care not to mangle the meat and keeping it in neat pieces. Tear or pull the boned chicken into large bite-sized pieces. (Tip: We prefer hand-pulled chicken to chopped chunks) Meanwhile, bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil over high heat. Add salt to taste. Add the ditalini and cook according to the package directions until tender. Drain well. (Tip: do not add uncooked pasta to the soup, or it will soak up too much broth during cooking and make the soup very thick.) Use a large slotted spoon or a potato masher, mash some potatoes in the pot to lightly thicken the broth. Add the chicken and pasta to the pot. Season salt and pepper. Serve hot.

CARRABBA'S SPICY SICILIAN CHICKEN SOUP

Steps:

• In a large stockpot (16 quart minimum / 20 quart recommended) heat olive oil under fairly low to medium heat.
• "Sweat" onion, celery, green pepper and some salt (to draw off moisture) for perhaps 30 minutes -- this is lower than browning, and makes the veggies somewhat translucent. I covered, and mixed every few minutes to prevent browning.
• Add carrots, garlic, some white pepper and some black pepper, and continue to heat under "sweat" conditions while mixing now and then.
• Add chicken stock, chicken breasts, tomatoes and potatoes -- and of course some more white pepper and black pepper.
• Cover and simmer on low heat for 1.5 to 2 hours (or use crock pot?).
• Remove chicken and let cool and stand to shred.
• Add chopped parsley and return the shredded chicken to the soup.
• Salt to taste at this point, and add more white and black pepper if your tongue is not twitching a bit when you sample. ;-).
• Simmer while cooking ditalini (or other stubby pasta).
• Serve soup over cooked pasta to taste.
• Note: Like many soups, this may be better made the day before and then served when needed. We will freeze some for ready-made meals and I think it will work out well.